This screen shows you whether you're using the electric or gas engine, and gives you a score based on the efficiency of your starting, cruising and stopping.

This screen shows you whether you're using the electric or gas engine, and gives you a score based on the efficiency of your starting, cruising and stopping.

Photo: Dwight Silverman / Houston Chronicle

Image 6 of 15

Trip information, including average speed, how long the car spent in electric mode, cruising range and outside temperature.

Trip information, including average speed, how long the car spent in electric mode, cruising range and outside temperature.

Photo: Dwight Silverman / Houston Chronicle

Image 7 of 15

This display shows which engine is running at the time, and where its energy is directed. You can use this see when the battery is being charged, versus discharging.

This display shows which engine is running at the time, and where its energy is directed. You can use this see when the battery is being charged, versus discharging.

Photo: Dwight Silverman / Houston Chronicle

Image 8 of 15

This displays shows your fuel cost per trip. When you fill up, you're prompted to enter the price you just paid, which is used to calculate this screen.

This displays shows your fuel cost per trip. When you fill up, you're prompted to enter the price you just paid, which is used to calculate this screen.

Photo: Dwight Silverman / Houston Chronicle

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This display shows the mileage history over a period of months.

This display shows the mileage history over a period of months.

Photo: Dwight Silverman / Houston Chronicle

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The Trip Information display on the touchscreen.

The Trip Information display on the touchscreen.

Photo: Dwight Silverman / Houston Chronicle

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This is the touchscreen version of the Energy Monitor screen, which is duplicated on the dashboard display.

This is the touchscreen version of the Energy Monitor screen, which is duplicated on the dashboard display.

Photo: Dwight Silverman / Houston Chronicle

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Interior, 2013 Prius C

Interior, 2013 Prius C

Photo: Dwight Silverman / Houston Chronicle

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Touchscreen, climate control.

Touchscreen, climate control.

Photo: Toyota

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Front interior

Front interior

Photo: Toyota

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Small cars, big tech: 2013 Prius C

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When I bought my current car back in October 2001, technology wasn’t high on my list of most-wanted features. I was more interested in taking advantage of post 9/11, no-interest financing to get my hands on a set of wheels I’d craved since I was a kid – a Ford Mustang.

Not that what I wound up with was a muscle car by any stretch. It’s a six-cylinder base model with a 5-speed transmission. It didn’t even come with one of those pointless cosmetic spoilers on the trunk. It still had a cassette tape player (along with a CD player) and about the only high-tech feature was the cruise control, which I added after I’d bought the car.

That car’s still running nicely, and with only 85,000 miles on it, it will probably last a while longer. But it gets a paltry 15 miles to the gallon on a good day, which wasn’t a big deal when gas cost $1.50 a gallon. Today, it’s closer to $3.40 here in Houston, so fill-ups are a lot more painful.

I’m beginning the process of looking for a new car, and this time around, I have three priorities: a low price, high gas mileage and lots of tech. Fortunately, the latter doesn’t negate the former two items. Just as is true with most personal technology, the price of in-car gadgetry has gone down over time, and you can now find impressive tech in very small, inexpensive vehicles.

Over the next several months, I’ll be testing small cars with big tech. While I’m not an automotive reviewer, I have been driving and appreciating cars for more than 40 years. I’ll talk about ride, performance and fit-and-finish, but the emphasis in these reviews will be on technology.

First up: a 2013 Prius C.

Toyota’s Prius hybrid has been around for 13 years in the U.S., and has evolved from an ugly compact into a stylish family car that gets great gas mileage. My wife bought a 2012 model late last year, and it’s fairly easy to coax more than 50 MPG out of it in the city or on a road trip. Its reputation for being a fuel-sipper makes it more popular as gas prices climb, and you see them everywhere in Houston.

Toyota has begun expanding the Prius line, and there are now two additional members of the family. The Prius V is a station wagon, while the Prius C is a subcompact. The latter built on the same platform as the Yaris, Toyota’s tiniest gasoline-only model.

The 2013 Prius C is the second iteration; the C was introduced with the 2012 models. Not much has changed. It comes in four different levels of trim. I tested the Price C Three, which has a standard price of $21,765, and it had three options as well – 15-inch, 8-spoke alloy wheels; a power sunroof; and carpeted floor and truck mats. Together, the add-ons and a delivery fee kicked the sticker price up to $24,025.

Typical of hybrids, the Prius C has two engines. One, a 1.5-liter gasoline engine, delivers 73 horsepower. The other, an electric motor, offers 60 horsepower. Combined, you’ve got 99 hybrid horses under the hood that Toyota says will get you from 0-60 in 11.5 seconds. That’s hardly jet propulsion, but hey, this is a Prius.

That said, this car has enough pep to get the job done. I took it to Austin one weekend and had no problem getting onto freeways, nor passing pokier drivers. It’s responsive, but don’t expect it to blow your hair back.

The Prius C is comfortable, with a surprising amount of interior room. The front and rear seats are firm and supportive, though tall people may find too little legroom in the back seat. The rear headrests are quite big, though, and cut down dramatically on the view out the rear window. The ride is firm and a bit jittery on the highway. In the city, on Houston’s often-broken pavement, the ride isn’t punishing – it handles uneven roadways well.

The Prius C is rated at 53 MPG in the city and 46 MPG on the highway. Hybrids rely more on the electric motor in city driving, so the mileage ratings are usually the reverse of what you see on gasoline-only vehicles. On my Austin trip, I indeed averaged right at 46 MPG. City driving was tougher, though – I seldom made it to 50 MPG, more often hitting between 35-42 MPG.

The car spent a lot more time in Eco mode – i.e., relying on its gasoline engine – than it does in my wife’s full-sized Prius.I’ve gotten very good at Prius-style driving, but my skills apparently weren’t mad enough for the smaller car.

The air conditioning system is very good, cooling the car down quickly after it had been sitting in the blazing Texas sun. It automatically adjusts the fans and cooling level based on the temperature in the car, and did a great job of keeping the interior comfortable, even when it was very hot outside.

If you want decent tech, you’ll want to start with the three trim level. While all the trim levels feature a high-tech dash and hands-free, Bluetooth phone and music support, you don’t get features like in-dash navigation, voice recognition, touchscreen controls, Internet connectivity and a set of apps until you hit the Three level.

In all the Prius C offerings, much of the technology involves providing the driver with as much information as possible about how efficiently the car is being driven. There are no fewer than seven selectable displays on the small screen to the right of the speedometer that tell you something about mileage, which powertrain is in use and how efficiently you’re driving. And if that’s not enough, there are two more displays showing similar details on the touchscreen used for maps, the sound system and Internet apps.

New Prius owners have a tendency to fall in love with all this flowing data, which can be as distracting as texting and driving. After a while, you find yourself sticking to one or two displays that work best for you, and using them becomes second nature, like checking engine temperature or tachometer speeds on a more traditional car.

The touchscreen display includes Bluetooth technology so you can pair your smartphone with it. If you’ve got a smartphone that allows you to pass its Internet connectivity to other devices – a feature called tethering – you can link the car’s Entune system to the Internet. That enables apps that let you check for gas prices, search the Web, listen to Internet radio or check news/sports/stocks online. If you don’t have a tethering option, you can still use Bluetooth to stream audio from your smartphone’s own apps to accomplish many of these things.

The touchscreen system comes with its own voice recognition that is not ready for prime time. For example, you can theoretically use it to program the navigation system by verbally supplying a destination address. However, I could seldom make it work properly. If I gave it just a street address, it apparently couldn’t use the GPS to pick a Houston-based default. It tried to find an address on Holcombe by searching in North Dakota. And it was really thrown off by the fact that both my home and work addresses are on streets with the names of states. If I tried to speak an address on Missouri Street in the Montrose area, it would presume I wanted to search in that state.

Again, you’re better off sticking to the voice recognition on your smartphone for giving verbal directions.

The touchscreen also allows you to configure the sound system, which includes a CD/MP3 player, HD and satellite radio and traditional AM/FM. You can also connect your smartphone or MP3 player directly via Bluetooth, an audio jack and a USB port. However, plugging an iPhone or iPod into the USB port automatically caused the sound system to jump to that as the audio source, even if your goal is just to charge the device. I found myself frequently having to bring up a list of audio sources on the screen and re-select FM to keep listening to the radio.

I’m used to the sound system and touchscreen because it’s similar to the one in my wife’s Prius, but new owners will have a bit of a learning curve. Navigating it is not always intuitive.

There are some features that are found on the full-sized Prius that aren’t available on the Prius C. For example, you can’t get a rear camera, which makes backing up safer. The big Prius Three has a ventilation system powered by rooftop solar cells that can keep the car from becoming an oven under the summer sun, and that’s not available on the Prius C.

Overall, I like this car a lot. No other small, gasoline-powered vehicle comes close in terms of mileage for the price, it’s comfortable and it’s got a solid selection of technology. It’s currently at the top of my short list. We’ll see if it stays there as I check out other small cars with big tech.

Dwight Silverman | Techblogger, social media manager

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